Various types of medical instruments utilizing radiofrequency (RF) energy, laser energy, microwave energy and the like have been developed for delivering thermal energy to tissue, for example to ablate tissue. While such prior art forms of energy delivery work well for some applications, RF, laser and microwave energy typically cannot cause highly “controlled” and “localized” thermal effects that are desirable in controlled ablation soft tissue for ablating a controlled depth or for the creation of precise lesions in such tissue. In general, the non-linear or non-uniform characteristics of tissue affect electromagnetic energy distributions in tissue.
What is needed are systems and methods that controllably apply thermal energy to tissue or body structure from a controlled flow of a vapor media without the lack of control often associated when RF, laser and microwave energy are applied directly to tissue.
This application is related to the following U.S. Non-provisional and Provisional applications: Application No. 61/126,647 filed on May 6, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/126,651 filed on May 6, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/126,612 filed on May 6, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/126,636 filed on May 6, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/130,345 filed on May 31, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/191,459 filed on Sep. 9, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/066,396 filed on Feb. 20, 2008 titled TISSUE ABLATION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/123,416 filed on Apr. 8, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/068,049 filed on Mar. 4, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/123,384 filed on Apr. 8, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/068,130 filed on Mar. 4, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/123,417 filed on Apr. 8, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/123,412 filed on Apr. 8, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; Application No. 61/126,830 filed on May 7, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE; and Application No. 61/126,620 filed on May 6, 2008 titled MEDICAL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE.
The systems and methods described herein are also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/681,625 filed Oct. 7, 2003 titled “Medical Instruments and Techniques for Thermally-Mediated Therapies”; Ser. No. 11/158,930 filed Jun. 22, 2005 titled “Medical Instruments and Techniques for Treating Pulmonary Disorders”; Ser. No. 11/244,329 filed Oct. 5, 2005 titled “Medical Instruments and Methods of Use” and Ser. No. 11/329,381 filed Jan. 10, 2006 titled “Medical Instrument and Method of Use”; and Ser. No. 13/292,800 entitled “Medical Systems and Methods of Use” filed Nov. 9, 2011.
All of the above applications are incorporated herein by this reference and made a part of this specification, together with the specifications of all other commonly-invented applications cited in the above applications.